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CNN 10
Violence Flares Up in the Middle East; U.S. Jobs Report Suggests A Strong Economy; Debate Over How Notre Dame Should Be Reconstructed; Twins Turn 100 Years Old
Aired May 07, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi I`m Carl Azuz delivering your May 7th edition of CNN 10. Thank you for taking the time to watch our show. Last night it
looked like a cease fire was taking hold in the Middle East. It came after a weekend of violence between Israel and Palestinian militant groups. In
fact, this was the worst fighting between the two sides since war broke out in 2014. It all started Friday in Gaza, a Palestinian controlled territory
of about 2 million people that borders the Mediterranean Sea. During weekly protests near the fence between Gaza and Israel, a sniper inside
Gaza wounded two Israeli soldiers and Israel`s military killed four Palestinians.
The violence got worse throughout the weekend and by Monday Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two Palestinian militant groups, had fired 690 rockets into
Israel according to the nation`s military and Israel had launched air strikes against 350 militant targets. At least four people in Israel were
killed, at least 23 people were killed in Gaza and the two sides blamed each other for the attacks. The Israeli president said his nation would
continue its quote, "massive attacks against terrorist elements and that Hamas was responsible and would pay a heavy price". The leader of Hamas in
Gaza said quote, "the more atrocious the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian civilians are, the stronger the Palestinian response will be".
After intense diplomatic work by the United Nations and Egypt to get the two sides to stop fighting, it appeared that things had calmed down on
Monday though the leaders of Israel and Hamas were saying more attacks could be on the horizon. The United Nations specifically spoke out against
the launches of rockets in the civilian areas of Israel. When that happens, Israel has what`s called an Iron Dome Defense System in place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So how does this thing work? Three key phases to think about. The first one is detection. Anytime rockets launch headed towards
Israel, very high tech cameras, radar systems and computers start analyzing them. How big are they? How fast are they moving? Importantly, where are
they pointed? Because at the same time the analysis and targeting phase is triggered. What that means is, if it sees that some of these are headed
off into the water or perhaps headed into rural areas where there`s really not much to hit, they just let them go. The whole system says we`re done
with you.
Go off and explode, you`ll make no difference to anyone. But if it spots a missile out there that`s aimed toward a building or a town or places where
people can get hurt, then those same computers kick into the destruction phase. That means that they communicate with batteries of missiles on the
ground and they fire those and those fly up and get as close as they can to that incoming threat. Each of these defensive missiles maybe only about 10
feet long but has some 24 pounds of high explosives and when they`re close enough they detonate, obliterating everything in that part of the sky. It
works pretty well and its not cheap.
It was developed originally by an Israeli defense company but this system has now been supported by about $235 million from the United States. Each
of the defensive missiles by the way coast around $62,000. But the goal here is to keep making this bigger and more effective so it can reach out
further, hit targets further away, engage bigger missiles at higher altitudes and you know what that`s all about. That`s about getting both
the U.S. and Israel greater defense against more robust enemies at a greater range.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: One of the closely watched indicators of how the U.S. economy is doing indicates its booming. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics recently
released its latest jobs report. It provides statistics from the month before on hiring, wages and the unemployment rate, the percentage of the
American workforce that doesn`t have a job. The government says 263,000 jobs were added in April. That`s more than economists predicted. It says
hourly wages per American workers were up 3.2 percent over last year. That`s less than economists predicted and the report says the unemployment
rate dropped even further to 3.6 percent. That`s the lowest level it`s been in 50 years.
Last time the unemployment rate was that low, the Beatles were still together and President Donald Trump had recently graduated from college.
One factor behind the unemployment rate decrease was because fewer Americans were looking for work. Sometimes that`s not seen as a good sign.
But there are still more jobs available in America than there are workers to fill them and overall the report was seen as very good news for the U.S.
economy.
10 Second Trivia. Which of these historic cathedrals is the oldest? Westminster Abbey, Notre Dame, St. Basil`s Cathedral or St. Stephen`s
Basilica. Westminster Abbey was originally a monastery. It dates back to the 10th century A.D.
But it`s the Parisian church of Notre Dame that will have some 21st century architecture or at least architecture constructed in this century after a
fire on April 15th badly damaged some parts of the 850 year old cathedral. The Forest of Notre Dame, the name given to the long, interlaced, planks of
wood that composed the cathedral`s roof was lost. So was the spire that had been built in the 1800s`, but Notre Dame`s famous stained glass
windows, it`s 18 century great organ and its artifacts including the Crown of Thorns that`s believed to been worn by Jesus Christ were all saved. As
far as the cause goes, investigators have said it was likely an accident though they haven`t confirmed exactly what kind. As France moves forward
with plans to rebuild the famous cathedral, there is some controversy brewing over how exactly that should be done. French President Emmanuel
Macron suggested that something contemporary could be included but critics say the rebuild needs to be true to the cathedral`s history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pencil on paper, it`s very old school. Yet perhaps it`s the best way to capture this scorched majesty of Paris` 800 year old
Notre Dame Cathedral. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced an international competition to redesign the roof and 300 foot spire the
flames destroyed. A task for the government flush with around $1 billion in donations hopes to finish in five years. Architecture students from
Notre Dame, the University in the U.S. state of Indiana, are here to draw and study this medieval marvel with a plan to join the competition. Texas
native (inaudible) hasn`t come up with a specific idea just yet but he`s thinking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gothic. It could be (inaudible). It could be gilded. It could be stone. It could be marble but I think something that respects
what`s still there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A balance between old and new is what`s needed says classmate Jessica Most (ph) from San Diego, California.
(JESSICA MOST): I think it`s important to (inaudible) stay relevant to but to what was historically there as well as keeping it modern.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keeping it modern however has its limits. Already some designers have posted their ideas online. Some are interesting. Paris
based heritage architect, Marie Ann Tech (ph) is confident sober heads will prevail in a masterpiece like Notre Dame which took 800 years to build
won`t be (inaudible) in a rush.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE TRANSLATED: It`s not a train station. It`s not a museum she tells me. It`s a special place and I believe we should provide
this - - this special place all the means necessary to express itself with genius and audacity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The outlines of genius have long been there. It will just take a brilliant mind to fill in what the fire erased. (inaudible)
CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: We did several reports from CNN`s Dr. Sanjay Gupta on things people can do to help themselves live to age 100. Today we`ve got a bit of advice
from a man who actually did that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) phones, to learn something and how to do something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: The words of George Morrow (ph) who just celebrated his 100th year alongside his twin brother James Morrow (ph). The centenarians suggested
that God had something to do with their longevity and they advise people always be honest and truthful. Those George says he feels just as good as
he did at age 75, he said he`d rather live back when he was a kid. That would have been during the Roaring 1920s`. The secret to longevity is an
age old question.
But their attitude about it was "unflapperable" and it just makes "centuries" that "decage" well, you`ve got to be good at shifting gears and
"years". Whether you drive a Model T or a Model S, being a model citizen and keeping good time and company as time goes by. I`m Carl Azuz turning
another page on the calendar for CNN 10.
END
